Kildare scientist features in latest STEM publication
Kathleen Lonsdale
A PIONEERING Newbridge woman features in The Royal Irish Academy’s recent publication of Irish STEM Lives.
Edited by Turlough O'Riordan and Jane Grimson, Irish STEM Lives retraces the extraordinary work and contributions of natural philosophers, mathematicians, engineers, particle physicists, code breakers and many more, through a selection of forty-six exceptional pioneers from the Dictionary of Irish Biography (DIB).
The publication includes an entry on Newbridge native, Kathleen Lonsdale. Lonsdale, who was a X-ray crystallographer and pacifist excelled at physics, chemistry and mathematics, and studied at the University of London (UCL).
At UCL she worked on X-ray diffraction and made significant contributions to crystallography there and at Leeds University while raising her family. Lonsdale pioneered techniques to investigate the surface and structure of crystals, becoming the first woman professor at UCL, where she built a notable research group.
Apart from many international and academic honours, in 1966 a rare form of hexagonal diamond, found in meteorites and produced synthetically, was named ‘Lonsdale’ in her honour.
She was also a quaker and a committed pacifist, having being imprisoned during the Second World war as conscientious objector; becoming an advocate of penal reform.
The latest in the (DIB) ongoing lives series is available for preorder at the RIA online shop. The publication will be followed by a launch event held at The Royal Irish Academy on 8 October 2025.
